Freshly cut trees are said to yield ca 10 liters of a nondrying, limpid, light
yellow, homogeneous, aromatic, slightly fluorescent oil, probably a mixture of
sesquiterpenes. The oil is valued for illumination, for making varnishes,
paints, and transparent paper, and for the adulteration of other oils. The oil
is also used for caulking boats. Supa, the wood of this species, is prized for
interior house trim, naval construction, furniture, and cabinetmaking. The
sap-wood is cream-colored or pinkish; freshly cut heartwood is yellow, aging
upon exposure to reddish brown. Difficult to work, the heavy wood is valued
for its durability and pleasant aroma (Allen and Allen, 1981).

As Burkill (1966) puts it, the wood oil is obtained by the wasteful method of
hacking the trunk and by cutting cavities in its base and subsequently firing
them to increase the flow... The resin is formed in the wood at all depths, a
circumstance which encourages the exploiter to destroy the tree more completely
on account of his gain in going deeply.

If the tree has been called the kerosene tree, perhaps this tree merits further
study. If 100 trees per ha each yielded 10 liters "kerosene"/year renewably,
the trees possibly merit as much attention as the "diesel" tree of Calvin, said
to yield 40 liters a year.